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OPAF Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P) Awareness Initiative
Newspaper Articles
Five articles on Polio, Post Polio, and Warm Springs, Georgia
by M.A.J. McKenna staff writer, science and medicine
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Article 1 • Article 2 • Article 3 • Article 4 • Article 5 •
Additional readings and information about polio and post polio
Back to main OPAF O&P Awareness page
Introduction
Orthotics play a significant role in the history of America's polio epidemic, and for this reason we offer the following articles by award-winning journalist M.A.J. McKenna. Accompanied by photographs from the archives of the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation, these essays reveal as much about twentieth-century American life as they do about present circumstances surrounding post-polio syndrome. Together, these resources help us to appreciate the role of orthoses and related assistive technology in the lives of individuals who received care at the Warm Springs Institute established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
FDR's Institute - known today as Roosevelt Warms Springs Institute for Rehabilitation (RWSIR) - recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. It still operates as a comprehensive medical and vocational rehabilitation center under the direction of the Georgia Department of Labor.
To learn more about the history of polio in America, visit the web site of the PBS documentary A Paralyzing Fear: The Story of Polio in America.
Thanks very much to the Atlanta Journal Constitution and to RWSIR for their assistance in launching this important part of the OPAF O&P Awareness Initiative.
M.A.J. McKenna's articles are © The Atlanta Journal Constitution and are reprinted here with permission. Further reproduction, retransmission or distribution of these materials without the prior written consent of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and any copyright holder identified in the material's copyright notice, is prohibited. Photo illustrations are © RWSIR and courtesy of the Library and Archive of RWSIR. Special thanks to Michael Shadix, RWSIR Librarian and Archivist, for his assistance during the course of preparing this online resource.
Jeffrey S. Reznick, Ph.D.
OPAF Executive Director and Senior Research Fellow
